Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse issued directives on 5 July 2006, for the protection of people detained under Emergency Regulations (ERs) of August 2005 or the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA).
A spirit of traditional tolerance and harmonious coexistence of different ethnic and religious groups existed in the northeast region of Sri Lanka for a very long time. The multicultural, multiethnic heritage has been subjected to severe strain in recent times resulting in breakdown of trust, friendship, solidarity and mutual understanding.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) is shocked and concerned over the gruesome massacre and other killings of civilians on Kayts Island, west of the Jaffna peninsula, on 13 May 2006. Information from TIC sources indicates that the Sri Lankan navy from the naval base on Mandaitivu Island was responsible for the murders.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) welcomes the peace talks between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) scheduled to take place in Geneva on 28 and 29 October 2006. The TIC urges the two parties to discuss issues that matter most to the people in the north-east. We believe that without resolving these urgent issues, it would be difficult for both parties to have extensive discussions on the political solution, as these issues would remain as obstacles to fruitful negotiations as experience has shown.
It is with immense sadness we record the death of A J Canagaratna popularly known as AJ, the distinguished Tamil veteran writer, scholar and translator who had done much to bring world literature to a whole range of people and groups in Sri Lanka, including university students, social workers, political activists and militant movements.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) condemns all forms of violence against humanitarian workers and urges the Sri Lankan government and the international community to ensure that perpetrators of crimes against such workers are found and punished.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) condemns the assassination of Jaffna District Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian Nadarajah Raviraj today. The assassination is another in a series of cold-blooded murders targeting prominent members of the Tamil community who publicize human rights violations against the Tamil people. The assassins wore police uniforms and emptied the entire magazine of a T-56 rifle into the car which he was driving, to make sure that he would not survive.
We are deeply saddened to learn of death of Sithampari Pushparajah on 10 March 2006. Pushparajah was a founder member of Manavar Peravai. He had been a relentless, selfless and vigourous participant all through his life in the struggle for Tamil rights and social justice, in particular for the interests of the exploited, down trodden and the oppressed. He was the author of the book "My Witness on Eelam fight", which he wrote while living in exile in France.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) is delighted that Agni Subramaniam, the indefatigable defender of human rights has been acquitted of all charges by a judicial Magistrates Court in Tamil Nadu today. Mr Subramaniam was arrested in January 2000, after he agreed with expatriates Tamils in Canada to distribute humanitarian aid to Tamil refugees.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) is greatly saddened by the death of Eliyathamby Ratnasabapathty at the Charing Cross Hospital in London this morning. He was ill for the last six years and had been housed in Hazlewell Nursing Home in Putney.
The European Union (EU) decided on 29 May 2006 to include the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in its list of terrorist organizations. The LTTE has already been banned in several other countries including the UK, India and the US. The ban on the LTTE is an issue of concern to the Tamil people of Sri Lanka. Many people are apprehensive that it may have an adverse impact on the peace process and encourage anti-peace elements within and outside Sri Lanka. The TIC has received many enquiries about the ban. This paper contains some basic information about the EU and the listing of the LTTE, particularly for the use of lobbyists and campaigners.
Sri Lanka claims to be a democracy and the Sri Lankan Constitution says that the country ‘shall be known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka’. The claim is ludicrous in light of events in the island. Ordinary people in Sri Lanka at the heart of events, experience the wrecking of democratic principles and democratic institutions every day. The Sri Lankan government continues to violate every democratic principle and shows little regard for democratic institutions.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) submitted an Information Note to members of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in September 2006 pointing out that democratic institutions in Sri Lanka have been stifled or destroyed by deliberate action of the government and human rights standards have deteriorated to an unacceptable and dangerous level. The second session of the new UN Council was held in Geneva from 18 September to 6 October 2006. This note has been widely used for lobby by human rights advocates.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) has drawn the attention of British State Minister for Immigration Tony McNulty to recent events in Sri Lanka. In a January 2006 letter to the Minister, the TIC urged review of the British government position relating to removal of failed asylum seekers. The TIC has received numerous appeals from Tamil asylum seekers, most of them vulnerable young men and women, whose applications for asylum have been turned down. They live in fear of deportation and in a state of uncertainty. Community meetings have observed that an increasing number are becoming destitute.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) is concerned over developments relating to the joint mechanism between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam LTTE) for the provision of relief to the people affected by the tsunami in the north-east of the island. Most people affected by the disaster in the north-east have not received sufficient assistance to begin their economic and livelihood activities. Land allocation policies have not been resolved to enable the construction of permanent housing. The entire tsunami relief and reconstruction process has been turned into an exercise in political maneuvering and tactics.
The Tamil Information Centre (TIC) has been involved for the last 25 years in information work, particularly directed for the purpose of lobbying the international community about the rights and aspirations of the Tamil people. Recent developments in international law and the emphasis of the international community on child soldiers are of concern to the Tamil people. In the last five years, almost all statements on Sri Lanka by governments, the United Nations, the European Union and other international agencies, have included the issue of child soldiers. The UN has shown increasing concern regarding child soldiers and has taken several measures for the protection of children.
The Tamil information Centre (TIC) expresses its extreme shock and deep sorrow at the reported death of over sixty children and wounding of many more in air-strikes by the Sri Lankan air force in Mullaitivu at dawn on 14 August 2006. The TIC condemns the deliberate targeting of children and destruction by the air force and calls on the international community to immediately take every possible measure to bring the conflict in Sri Lanka to an end.
A joint mechanism between the Sri Lankan government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for relief and reconstruction operations in the north-east has not been agreed upon although four months have elapsed since the tsunami struck the island. Discussions have taken place between the two parties but the contents of the talks have not been made public. Both parties seem to agree on the mandate and composition of the joint mechanism, but differences are said to remain on the monetary structure of the mechanism.
